Dinosaur
Dilong
Impressions of feather-like filaments were preserved near its jaw and tail.
Dilong was a small early relative of tyrannosaurs and preserves signs of plumage.
Three stages. One companion.
Game artwork
AI-generated, stylized game illustrations. These designs and growth stages are imaginative, not scientific reconstructions.
Dilong at a glance
- Diet
- Carnivore
- It is interpreted as a consumer of other animals. Hunting and scavenging are not mutually exclusive behaviors.
- When it lived
- Cretaceous
- Group
- Tyrannosauroidea
- Tyrannosauroids
- Fossil locations
- China
- Places where fossils have been found
Beyond the game
The real Dilong
It was a small tyrannosauroid, far smaller than Tyrannosaurus. Its discovery provided the first evidence of feathers in that lineage.
Impressions of feather-like filaments were preserved near its jaw and tail. The impressions were found next to specific areas of the body. That is why we can talk about fossil evidence and not just an artistic choice when drawing it with filaments.
This grouping describes evolutionary relationships. Its members share ancestors; they do not form a chain in which one must turn into another.
Fossil discoveries
Selected fossil records · present-day map
Map references
Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Fossil records: linked collections and publications.Sources & text credits
Explore the references behind this profile.
- Dilong paradoxus
Wikipedia contributors · Spanish source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Dilong paradoxus
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Tyrannosauroidea
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Living birds
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
Educational text adapted in English from the existing Wikipedia-backed Dinosgacha catalogue and linked articles by Wikipedia contributors.
Existing English translations have been selected and arranged for this encyclopedia. Repeated period and diet text is omitted where those fields already carry it. Unknown facts remain unfilled; unreviewed geological age phrases are omitted and period labels replace numerical ages.
The adapted educational text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. This text license does not apply to the game illustrations.